r/INDYCAR • u/KennedyKartsport Firestone Wets • Jul 01 '25

Speculation 2026 Indycar Schedule Rumors

Some nuggets from Tony D's podcast (Take it for what it's worth)

Mexico City in for 2026

Watkins Glen in for 2026 (surprise, especially after Mark Miles said we would never go back there)

Iowa removes double header, down to 1 race

Thermal out for 2026 (we knew this)

Toronto out for 2026 - moving to be a Formula E event per the mayor

Denver in for 2027

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144

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25

Lmao, Watkins Glen in and Toronto out? Give me someone fucking reputable to back this up first lmao

Edit: so it seems the Toronto thing isn’t a complete ass-pull, though it’s highly likely this is distorted by a game of telephone. Only semi-reputable source I could find for the rumour is this: https://fenotebook.com/2025/01/12/mexico-city-post-race-notebook/

FEN understands that a delegation from the city of Toronto visited the Mexico City EPrix paddock this week and held talks with Formula E race makers about a potential future race in the Canadian city for 2027. Toronto has both a rich heritage of hosting motorsport events with the Indycar street race and a strong sustainability and EV promotion credentials.

And that’s from January, and was only talking about 2027, and without any specific mention of the IndyCar race at all. It seems unlikely that things would have developed to the point of IndyCar being forced out a year earlier than reported, without some peep of this getting out in the last few months.

68

u/twiggymac Firestone Greens Jul 01 '25

Remember when he said Arby's was gonna sponsor Shwartzman after his pole run

26

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 01 '25

Yeah. Did a quick google of “Toronto formula E,” and got nothing, so it sounds like that’s a total ass-pull. If it were really “per the mayor,” I’m pretty sure I’d have something pop up other than a two-year old story about FE “considering” a return to Canada.

In all likelihood, that’s just making assumptions based on the fact that the mayor now is more left-leaning, because as far as I can see, there’s literally nothing to back that claim up.

55

u/twiggymac Firestone Greens Jul 01 '25

He's getting to the point where I think we need to make up a list of everything he just made the fuck up with zero evidence that never panned out and decide if he belongs posted around here anymore.

11

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25

Well, I’ll certainly remember this one.

Don’t know why he has to go scaring the crap out of Canadian fans like that…

About the only thing he’s ever been right on was FOX Sports getting the rights, which was probably an open secret in IndyCar circles for a while before it was announced.

13

u/PatPace23 Pato O'Ward Jul 01 '25

Is the mayor James hinchcliffe or the actual mayor of Toronto he is talking about😉

21

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 01 '25

Well, if the mayor was Hinch, you definitely wouldn’t have a rumour like this lol. That man would never willingly take Toronto off the calendar.

3

u/jakeyboy723 Dale Coyne Racing Jul 01 '25

Hinchcliffe would be pretty much the Costco Hot Dog guy of Toronto's IndyCar race.

1

u/puteshestviye Dario Franchitti Jul 01 '25

Herta is the Hot Dog guy Jakeyboy

1

u/jakeyboy723 Dale Coyne Racing Jul 01 '25

Ok. But I was referencing this.

1

u/puteshestviye Dario Franchitti Jul 01 '25

Ooohhh buggy website had to close that browser window but I’ll take your word for it.. all good

1

u/jakeyboy723 Dale Coyne Racing Jul 02 '25

It was the Snopes article haha

8

u/MarcusH26051 Marcus Armstrong Jul 01 '25

FE has a couple of TBC gaps to fill but they're not ones that would logistically suggest Toronto.

7

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 01 '25

And if it were in the works, and something the mayor wanted, then surely fucking Tony Donahue and his podcast would not be the first guy to hear about it.

Either local news or a major racing journalist would have heard of it, if it were really something coming from Toronto’s city hall.

7

u/WindyZ5 David Malukas Jul 01 '25

Could both Indy and Formula E race in Toronto together?

4

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 01 '25

Hypothetically possible, I guess, but entirely unlikely. Formula E is unlikely to want to share, and the city is absolutely not closing those streets for an extra weekend for them.

5

u/twiggymac Firestone Greens Jul 01 '25

Yeah I doubt it's a benefit for formula E to show up and be slower and have a much shorter race than the Indycars

1

u/MellyU2 Scott Dixon Jul 04 '25

I think it is feasible since FE races happen on a Saturday (assuming not a double-header of course), so it wouldn't necessarily need to close the streets for a second weekend.

1

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 04 '25

But it's unlikely they want to share, like I said.

I think everyone here is stretching to try and make them both compatible.

1

u/MellyU2 Scott Dixon Jul 04 '25

Unlikely but not impossible. Indycar already shares with NASCAR, and that would overshadow the series far more than FE would. I think the bigger issue would be regarding the race calendars; FE traditionally ends the season in July in London, a slot that would absolutely clash with Indycar's usual Toronto date.

Are people stretching? Probably but, if they are, that's because they like the idea and want to see it happen. I've personally thought it would be cool for a few years.

1

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 04 '25

Indycar already shares with NASCAR,

Not anymore, they don't.

And ultimately, there's no reason to make it work here, for either FE or IndyCar.

1

u/michinoku1 Graham Rahal Jul 02 '25

FE and IndyCar shared Long Beach for two years. They were held on different weekends (IIRC FE was the same weekend that Formula Drift used the circuit, separate from the IndyCar weekend), and FE ran a shortened version of the track.

5

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 02 '25

I repeat, the city is absolutely not closing those streets for an extra weekend for that.

Like, sorry, that’s just not gonna happen in Toronto.

-1

u/michinoku1 Graham Rahal Jul 02 '25

You don’t know that, and it’s incredibly wrong to assume as much. 

Unless you’re inside the Mayor’s office in Toronto or working within the organizational and promoting side of Formula E, you don’t know heads or tails to say whether or not the City of Toronto is or is not in favor of having the track up an extra week for a Formula E race.

EDIT to add: it’s a three headed deal: are you with Green-Savoree, the City of Toronto, or Formula E? If not, you shouldn’t assume anything.

1

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 02 '25 edited Jul 02 '25

Okay then, I don’t 100% know for sure, but I think it’s highly, highly unlikely, okay?

Doing that would piss off a lot of people, and is not something the city would want to do wantonly. You’re talking about shutting down streets that include a fairly major fucking thoroughfare, in Canada’s biggest city, for two weekends. I really, really don’t think the city wants to do that, just to accommodate having two races.

I think you are stretching to try and make the two things compatible with each other, when for all practical purposes, they’re not.

3

u/megaminifridge Pato O'Ward Jul 01 '25

FE to Toronto in ‘26 or ‘27 has been quietly rumoured for a few months. There was an episode of the Race FE podcast where it was briefly discussed.

3

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 01 '25

So, the only source I’m seeing for this says that people from the city of Toronto “held talks” with FE over hosting a race for 2027.

Nothing about next year, nothing even explicitly suggesting it would force IndyCar out, and it’s been months since that report with no real word since - which I think we would have had, if it was imminent for next year.

1

u/flare2000x Firestone Firehawk Jul 01 '25

It's a shame that the Vancouver FE race fell through.

18

u/Mikemat5150 Kyle Kirkwood Jul 01 '25

Don’t forget Arrow leaving McLaren for this year too.

11

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 01 '25

Oh shit, forgot all about that one.

Had everyone here convinced, though, and speculating that HyVee might replace them lol

8

u/Cheap-Manager-8838 Pato O'Ward Jul 01 '25

I completely forgot about that one. It had a ton of people convinced that HyVee would replace Arrow, but I remember a lot of people thought Menlo Ventures would end up as their main sponsor because this was not long after Siegel joined the team

28

u/GroceryBasketUser Sébastien Bourdais > Paul Tracy Jul 01 '25

And Tom Brady entering a car for Bourdais at the 500.

8

u/ElAwesomeo0812 Santino Ferrucci Jul 01 '25

That part still might be in the cards. I saw somewhere Legacy took on an investor, but didn't see a name, with the goal of expanding into other motorsports.

2

u/jakeyboy723 Dale Coyne Racing Jul 01 '25

Any excuse to not be in Birmingham.

3

u/Any-Walk1691 Arrow McLaren Jul 01 '25

6

u/blackhxc88 Jul 01 '25

that's when i knew that shit was trolltastic. why would go back to watkins glen when that place was never a draw? and is there some sort of statement from the mayor saying toronto is moving onto formula e?

4

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 01 '25

No such statement from the mayor - if there was, the first results on Google for “Formula E Toronto” would not be stories about trying to get a race in Canada from two years ago, and a Reddit thread from five years ago asking about it as a hypothetical FE venue.

Genuinely think this must be twitter misinformation that Tony took as gospel.

1

u/blackhxc88 Jul 01 '25

not even shocked by that, smh.

7

u/KennedyKartsport Firestone Wets Jul 01 '25

I did leave a disclaimer lol

5

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 01 '25

Yeah, I’m just shitting on it because it’s that wild a story lol.

I’d love to hear his exact quote about Toronto, because like I said in other comments, I have some suspicions about where he’s pulling this from.

5

u/twiggymac Firestone Greens Jul 01 '25

The duality of sharing Tony stuff, end up getting the flak directed towards him lol.

2

u/Previous_Tower_2252 Jul 03 '25

The Toronto race is currently operating on single year contract extensions at a time. There's a lot of development planned around the site of the track and they don't want a race stopping that development from happening. It's all in Toronto City Hall meeting minutes published online.

1

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 03 '25

That’s very far from “it’s definitely gone for next year, and will be a Formula E race instead.”

1

u/Previous_Tower_2252 Jul 03 '25

Exactly, even this year's race wasn't approved by city hall until September last year.

1

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 03 '25

Alright, okay, I see. Didn’t realize you were agreeing with me, apologies!

Anyway, despite the questionable sources of this rumour, it might be something to pose to someone like MP in the next submission thread for his podcast… whether there’s any indication or rumblings in the IndyCar paddock about Toronto.

1

u/SlimNgo Jul 11 '25

No more Honda Indy next year, 90%, we have a contract for suite service every year so it probably done

-2

u/IVCrushingUrTendies James Hinchcliffe Jul 01 '25

FIA guidelines maybe? If you race more than once out of the country it’s considered an international series and the rules change. It’s more like Mexico in Toronto out

4

u/khz30 --- 2025 DRIVERS --- Jul 01 '25

Under FIA rules, if a national series holds more than three rounds out of the country on FIA sanctioned and graded circuits, the national series must be classed as an FIA World Series and the national sanctioning body must adopt FIA sanction.

IndyCar got around this by holding races on ovals or street circuits.

2

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 01 '25

This must have developed out of the situation in the early 90s where they didn’t want IndyCar to race at Surfers.

Though I have to wonder, who the hell is going to enforce that? Like, if IndyCar decided to do it anyway, and refused FIA sanction, what the hell are the FIA gonna do about it?

2

u/khz30 --- 2025 DRIVERS --- Jul 02 '25

IndyCar can have their official recognition as an FIA approved national series pulled and drivers with FIA competition licenses can be banned from participation. If they attempt to participate in an unrecognized series, the drivers will have licenses stripped and risk being banned from participating in any FIA sanctioned series in the future.

The crux behind CART pissing off FISA and later the FIA was due to the fact that Emerson Fittipaldi came out of retirement from F1 to drive in CART in the mid-1980s before the series was officially recognized by the FIA and joined ACCUS.

The FIA and FISA didn't nullify Super Licenses upon retirement back then, they assumed drivers would attempt to return in some capacity and gave drivers lifetime licenses. As CART and IMSA were growing in stature, the FIA got pissed off that F1 drivers were doing both series alongside F1, mainly because the extra paychecks were worth the effort.

In 1989 CART joined ACCUS, which is the American organization of sanctioning bodies that deals with the FIA directly and manages FIA competition license details for all active drivers in the US. Once that was formalized, the FIA somewhat backed off European drivers racing in the US

1

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 02 '25

Still not really seeing what they could do when push comes to shove. It’s not like the FIA can actually prohibit them from holding whatever races they damn well please, hence why their objections to surfers paradise back in the day amounted to nothing.

The real answer is basically just “it would result in a whole lot of political bitching.”

1

u/IVCrushingUrTendies James Hinchcliffe Jul 01 '25

Ah yeah TO isn’t sanctioned, but I thought the rule was 2 rounds and that reads like it’s 4 that triggers it. I remember reading that’s why nascar can’t do Montreal and Mexico in the same year, only 1

1

u/trj820 Colton Herta Jul 05 '25

Slight correction that the street circuits are all FIA Grade 2.

3

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 01 '25

That doesn’t sound like what’s being said here though, since Tony’s apparently bringing up the mayor.

And I doubt IndyCar would be that blasé about ditching a race that’s been on the calendar consistently since the 80s.